Fedir Avramovych Zharko (4(17)/VI/1914-17/VII/1986), Merited Artist of Ukraine (1965). Fedir Zharko was one of the most renowned singers of '' dumy'' (sung epic poems) in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. He was born in 1914 in village of Mykhailivka,

Cherkasy Cherkasy (, ) is a city in central Ukraine. Cherkasy serves as the administrative centre of Cherkasy Oblast as well as Cherkasy Raion within the oblast. The city has a population of Cherkasy is the cultural, educational and industrial centre ...

province. From 1931 to 1936 Zharko studied at the Cherkasy Pedagogical Institute, completing his studies in Mathematics and Physics. Here he also became acquainted with the bandurist Vusatyj from the city of

Chyhyryn Chyhyryn ( ; ) is a city in Cherkasy Raion, Cherkasy Oblast, central Ukraine. It is located on Tiasmyn river not far where it enters Dnieper. From 1648 to 1669, the city served as the residence of the hetman of the Zaporizhian Host. After a f ...

, who inspired him to learn to play the

bandura A bandura ( ) is a Ukrainians, Ukrainian plucked string instrument, plucked-string folk-instrument. It combines elements of the zither and lute and, up until the 1940s, was also often called a kobza. Early instruments () had 5 to 12 strings and ...

. From 1936 to 1940 up until World War II he worked as a village school teacher in

Kiev Oblast Kyiv Oblast (, ), also called Kyivshchyna (, ), is an oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, which is administered as a city with special status. However, Kyiv also serves as the ...

(province). Initially he learned to play the bandura from

Fedir Hlushko Fedir (Ukrainian: Федір ''FEHD-ihr'') is a Ukrainian name derived from the Ancient Greek name Theodoros. The patronymic names (from Eastern Slavic naming customs) are Fedorovych for men and Fedorivna for women. People * Fedir Androshchuk ...

. After World War II he spent six years incarcerated in

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...

and

Kolyma Kolyma (, ) or Kolyma Krai () is a historical region in the Russian Far East that includes the basin of Kolyma River and the northern shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as the Kolyma Mountains (the watershed of the two). It is bounded to ...

for being a village elder during the German occupation of Ukraine. In 1945, after singing at a concert he was invited to join the Dumka chorus in

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. In 1948 he became a member of the

Kiev Bandurist Capella The Kyiv Bandurist Capella () is a male vocal-instrumental ensemble that accompanies its singing with the playing of the multi-stringed Ukrainian folk instrument known as the bandura. The group was initially known as the Kobzar Choir and was ...

where he spent some 25 years performing with the group until his retirement in 1974.

Repertoire

From 1958 he recorded a large number of ''dumy'' and historic songs for the Melodia company, and published a number of collections of songs and ''dumy''.(1967, 1969) His repertoire included the following ''dumy'' (ten authentic and four contemporary ''dumy''): # The Duma about the death of the Kozak Bandurist (Hlushko) #

The Samara Brothers ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' ...

(Hlushko) # Captives lament (Hlushko) # Storm on the Black Sea - # The Oziv Brothers - # Kozak Holota - # Fedir the one without kin # Marusia Bohuslavka #

About the sister and brother About may refer to: * About (surname) * About.com, an online source for original information and advice * about.me, a personal web hosting service * About URI scheme, an internal URI scheme * About box, a dialog box that displays information rela ...

# About the poor widow and her three sons Contemporary ''dumy''-songs # About Lenin # It is not the Wind # Blood is not water # Freedom is coming Zharko has also been the author of a number of songs and ''dumy''.

Publications

Ukrains'ki narodni pisni dlia holosu v suprovodi bandury Yuni spivaky-bandurysty

Sources

*Omelchenko, A. F. - Banduryst Fedir Zharko // NTE, 1975 #3 *Omel'chenko, A. F. - Poklykannia // Muzyka, 1979 #2, p. 24 *Nemyrovych, I. - Vziav by ia banduru - Kiev, 1986 Kobzarstvo Bandurists 20th-century Ukrainian male singers Recipients of the title of Merited Artist of Ukraine 1986 deaths 1914 births Soviet male singers {{Ukraine-singer-stub